High Heeled and Faded
by Smapdi
Summary: Not a one-shot anymore - I added another chapter. When Danny isn't with the group the next day, Mindy goes to find him. Together they visit Danny's dad and sister, and Mindy has a realization. Squee!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note - the title comes from the 1974 Billy Joel song "Los Angelenos" which includes the lyrics "**

Midwestern ladies  
High-heeled and faded  
Drivin' sleek new sports cars  
With their New York cowboys"

**OK, so Boston isn't the Midwest, but come on, I had to use it. ;)**

"I didn't call a cab, Mindy. I thought you were doing it, Morgan."

"Peter, are you serious? We have a flight to catch and no way to get to the airport? And where the hell is Danny? He's not returning my calls."

Mindy was in the lobby wearing her biggest, most LA hip sunglasses, not to look trendy, but to hide her puffy eyes. She was all cried out and just wanted to go home, where maybe she could convince Cliff she was worthy of his trust. She wasn't sure she wanted to, though...

"Oh, he's at the Y." Morgan helpfully interjected. "He kicked me out of my own room, that little rapscallion."

"What? Why is he at the Y? And why are you here?"

"I just said. He. Kicked. Me. Out. Geez, Dr. L." Morgan chuckled as he shook his head.

"That's not answering the question. Peter, have you heard from Danny?"

Peter paused from constantly scanning the lobby for a last minute hookup to reply. "Yeah, talked to him last night. He's not coming with us. Changed to a red eye. And speaking of, I spottie a hottie with a need for my body. Morgan, call a cab, pronto."

"Wait, what? Peter! Why isn't Danny coming with us? Morgan!"

Morgan wrinkled his face in a combination grin and grimace. "Well, someone might have arranged for him and his estranged father to meet up tonight and that someone might have also put on Peter's underwear by accident and is really needing to set the boys free before they suffocate. Mindy, can you call the cab?" Morgan ran off for the men's room.

Mindy called Danny first, with no reply. "OK, this is ridiculous." She had the front desk call a cab and rounded up Peter, who struck out, and Morgan, now proudly going commando, and headed to the airport.

With one quick detour.

"You guys STAY HERE until I get ahold of Danny and make sure he's still here. I am not letting you leave me here alone!"

Mindy stormed into the small lobby of the YMCA. No one was at the counter so she tapped the bell for service. Again, and again.

"OK, OK, settle down!" Emerging from the back was a middle aged woman who clearly wasn't thrilled with her life plan. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to find out if Daniel Castellano is here, please. It's an emergency."

"Mmm hmmm... Nobody by that name in the registry, Ma'am."

"I am a Miss, thank you. Can you try Morgan Tookers?"

The clerk rolled her eyes. "Okaaayyy... Yes, Mister Tookers is staying here." She eyed Mindy and loudly smacked her gum. "Anything else..."

"Yes, I need his room number please?"

"Oh, no. I can't be giving that out to just anyone that walks in off the street. We here at the YMCA value our customers privacy." She gave Mindy another dirty look. "If Mr. Tookers... _arranged_ for your visit, he shoulda given that to you."

"He doesn't know I'm here!" Mindy shouted in exasperation.

"Hmph. Well then whoever _arranged_ it shoulda told you." The clerk started to return to the back.

"Excuse me, why do you keep saying _arranged_ like that?" It dawned on Mindy what the clerk was implying. "Do you think I'm a _prostitute_? Do I look like a prostitute?!"

The clerk eyed her again. "Everybody got a type..."

"Uh, I am not his type!" She spun around angrily to leave. "Oh, and I am not a prostitute!"

Morgan and Peter shouted for her to hurry as she emerged from the building.

"I've gotta go find Danny, just go ahead. Morgan, give me your room number." Morgan gave her the key and she went back to find the elevator.

Before she entered the room she knocked several times and yelled for Danny, but the only response was a muffled "Maaaarlllllggghh" so she started to panic.

"I'm coming in, Danny. Don't be naked!"

Fortunately, he wasn't. He still had his socks on, as well as his button down which was half undone, and a pair of light gray boxer briefs. He was sprawled face down on the bed with his head under a pillow.

"Danny! Danny, are you ok? Danny you smell terrible, were you drinking out of the toilet?" She crouched by the bed and shook his shoulder.

Danny finally pushed himself up and looked at Mindy with bleary eyes. "Are you an alien?"

Mindy took off her sunglasses.

"Oh hey, Mindy."

"What the hell, Danny? You are a mess!"

"Yeah, I thank I drink too much." He giggled.

"You're still drunk, wow. You are a lightweight. OK, time to get up and tell me what's going on!"

"OK!" Danny said in an overly loud voice and leapt off the bed, where he stood woozily for a moment.

Mindy sat on the bed and held up her hand to block her view of Danny's lower torso which was now face height. "Ok, I approve of the updated underwear selection, Danny, but come on, I don't need to see the bulges."

"Issss not anything you haven't seen before!" Danny promptly fell backwards onto the bed.

"OK, no, this will not do!" Mindy jumped up and grabbed the cowboy hat sitting on the desk, then neatly placed it over Danny's groin to cover the offending organ.

"Now, Danny, tell me what's going on."

Danny sat up. He looked down at the cowboy hat in his lap and put a hand on it. "Morgan called my dad. Well, Richie told him to, it's really his fault. But Morgan shouldn't have... I called you for help but you didn't answer..." Danny gave her his puppy dog eyes.

Mindy sat back down beside Danny and started to put her arm around his shoulder, but she caught a whiff and just patted it instead.

"I know, I'm sorry, my phone died, and... well, that's not important now. So did you talk to your dad?"

"Yeah, I had a few drinks, then I called him, then I drank the rest of the drinks. I guess... I'm meeting him for dinner tonight."

"Danny, I'm so proud of you! I would totally hug you if you didn't reek. So here's what we're doing. You're going to take a shower, then we are getting out of this hellhole and getting you some food and get you sobered up. Then I am going with you to visit your dad, and don't try to argue. "

"Ok, Min." Danny smiled. He had not intended to argue.

While Danny showered, Mindy changed her flight and called for a rental car. She was searching for restaurants when Danny came back from the bathroom. He had the thin hotel towel slung low on his hips and his hair was damp.

Mindy hadn't previously appreciated this view, as she herself had been damp and _naked_ and that had been mortifying. Now, in this tiny room, the temperature seemed to have gone up twenty degrees. She tried to look anywhere besides his lean torso and muscular arms that were glistening with droplets of water.

"Sorry, didn't think to take my clothes with me." Danny grabbed his suitcase and tossed it on the bed, digging through it for an outfit.

"That's ok, just hurry... we have a car waiting... Danny!" Mindy's words ran together as Danny casually dropped his towel and started to get dressed. "What did I say about being naked!"

"You don't gotta look." He gave her a sideways glance and a widening grin. Mindy turned her head away till she heard the zip of his jeans.

"Danny, given that you are still drunk and I have already been dumped for being untrustworthy, I am hoping this is something we will both forget. As I have forgotten all the other times I have had to see your penis."

"Dumped? Untrustworthy?" Danny buttoned up his shirt with a frown. "Min, I know you're gonna tell me the story behind this, but I'm starving. Let's get out of here."

"Gladly! And when you check out, please tell that horrible woman at the counter that you did not hire me as a prostitute!"

"No worries, Min. I'll tell her you give massages." He smirked and put his arm around her shoulder. "And thank you."

"For what? I'm not giving you a massage, Danny!"

"Shut up." They walked out into the hallway. "Thank you for coming to my rescue."

Mindy smiled shyly. "Well, it's the least I could do. You rescue me all the time." As they stepped in the elevator, a familiar routine recreated thousands of miles from their office, Mindy grinned at Danny. "We make a good team, Castellano."

Danny reached for her hand and squeezed it. "That we do, Lahiri. That we do."


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note - OK, by popular request (well, like three people?) I added a chapter. Caveat - while this story is clearly not on the same path as the actual upcoming episode, I don't want anyone to be spoiled because there are elements based on some of the sneak previews and other spoilers out there. I'm a spoiler whore. More notes at the end**.

By the time she had gotten Danny a good meal, which he wolfed down without any conversation, it was mid afternoon. They had several hours in the car to talk, so Mindy had let him eat in peace. She had ordered a salad but ended up eating half his fries as she listened to music on her phone and browsed TMZ online. Her quiet patience ended in the car.

"OK, Danny, I can't believe you thought you would run into your dad here in LA when he lives in the freaking desert."

"All of California is a desert, Mindy. They just water it a lot."

"Oh right, because Malibu is just covered in cactus! Geez if I had known we were going to stay another whole day, I could totally have stalked at least four of the Avengers. Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. live on the same street, Danny!"

"That map of the stars homes is totally fake. And I'm almost sure that Phoenix guy was just a homeless man. You're going to have to burn that outfit - it's probably crawling with lice."

"Shut up, Danny! That _was_ Joaquin Phoenix!"

The closer they got to Danny's dad's house, the quieter he got. Mindy was able to get a little information from him, but Danny admittedly didn't have many answers to her questions. She also filled him in on her breakup with Cliff.

"I can't even be mad at him, Danny. I was an idiot." Mindy shook her head sadly.

"Well he knew that when you met him, what's changed?" Danny teased.

"Rude." She play-smacked his arm. "I feel terrible for hurting him, but I know he will come around. I just have to prove to him I'm trustworthy. I've got to make some grand, romantic gesture!"

Danny was quiet for a moment. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you want him back? It seems like he was just looking for a way out, Mindy."

"What? Why would he want a way out, Danny?" Mindy's voice was sharp.

"I don't know. Maybe he's afraid of commitment. You sprang that moving in thing pretty fast."

"Well, he said he had decided to do it before he found out about the party. That doesn't sound like fear to me."

"Oh come on, don't you find that timing a little convenient? He told you he found himself an apartment! Then suddenly when he's about to dump you, he was "going to" say he wanted to move in?" Danny chuckled. "You just gave him an easy out, is all."

"Danny, I don't think you know what you're talking about. It's really none of your business, anyway. I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Never mind." Danny suddenly looked like he was turning green. "We're here. This is his street."

Danny turned into a cul de sac and pulled to a stop in front of the house. It was a newer home in a cookie-cutter community, where the lawns were replaced by rock gardens and drought resistant plants. The area had clearly been affected by the real estate crash, as numerous houses they had passed were abandoned or for sale by banks.

"I don't wanna go in." Danny said, with a hint of desperation. "To hell with it, let's just go to LAX."

"Danny Castellano, you did not drag me on a two hour drive to this... quaint place, only to chicken out on the doorstep! You made it this far, come on."

Danny gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. "I can't."

"You can and you will." Mindy got out of the car and walked around to the drivers side, opening the door and extending her hand. Danny looked at her woefully, exhaled deeply and took her hand as he got out. She squeezed it hard.

Knocking on the door took just about all the strength he had. He stared at his feet waiting for it to open, heart pounding. He watched the heavy wooden door swing inwards and heard a tiny voice.

"Hello."

Danny looked up to see a young preteen girl, hair in a pony tail, big brown eyes looking curiously at him and Mindy.

"Danielle, is that him?" Came a voice from inside the house. She just shrugged and yelled back "I guess!"

Alan Castellano came into view and Danny was taken aback. For some reason, he didn't realize the handsome man who had left him so many years ago would be affected by those years. The man before him was old, gray haired and balding, with a beer belly and slumped shoulders. They stared at each other.

"Hello, Mr. Castellano, so nice to meet you." Mindy took the reins and introduced herself.

"Call me Alan." He shook Mindy's hand, then reached out for Danny's, but his remained stuffed in his jacket pockets.

"And who is this gorgeous girl?" Mindy asked, reaching to shake her hand. The youngster giggled.

"That's my daughter Danni... Daniel's sister." Danny just stared at her. Words wouldn't form, but he reached out and gently shook her hand.

"Wow. You're old."

"He is totally ancient!" Mindy agreed, giving her a high five. "Danny, you didn't tell me about Danni."

"I didn't know." He croaked.

Alan ushered them into the living area. Danny was horribly uncomfortable, but Mindy made some small talk to try to break the ice. She kept giving Danny looks and nudges but he was like a zombie.

Alan offered them drinks, and when he went off to get them, Mindy whispered to Danny. "Snap out of it! Just talk to him."

"I have nothing to say."

"You have plenty to say. Just sit down and relax a little, you're scaring the child."

As soon as Alan returned, Mindy grabbed Danni's hand and begged her to show off her bedroom. "If you don't have at least five One Direction posters in there I am going to be crushed!"

"I do! I have like twenty!"

"Oh my gosh I used to like Harry sooo much but now I don't know, Niall is really growing on me..." Mindy followed Danni, leaving the men in uncomfortable silence.

"I'm, uh, I'm glad you called." Alan finally said.

"It was Richie's idea. I really don't..." Danny trailed off, looking anywhere but at his father.

"I know. He's a good kid. I'm so happy I could spend some time with him."

"Well, nothing better than waiting till he's in his twenties to do that." Danny couldn't restrain the bitterness.

"Yeah, well, I screwed up. I made a lot of mistakes, and I can never make up for it. "

Danny just snorted.

"I'm glad you took care of them, Danny."

"Well, that's a relief, Dad. I was so worried I wouldn't get your approval." The sarcasm dripped from every word.

"It's ok to hate me, Danny. I hate me, for what I did to you. I don't expect you to forgive me or nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I know I'm a useless bastard. But that little girl in there, she deserves more. You and Richie are her only family. Well, she got an aunt in Utica, and her mom is out there somewhere. But I want her to know her brothers."

Danny turned and finally met his dad's eyes. "Her mom left you?" Alan nodded. "Wow. Karma is real, eh?" He laughed hollowly.

"Yeah, I deserved it, but _she_ didn't. I just wanted you to meet her. Maybe you can keep in touch. I know she'd like that."

Danny sighed. "Yeah. Well we gotta get going. Mindy!"

Mindy and Danni returned, iPad in hand. "Danni is showing me how to beat that Candy Crush level!"

"Well, you'll have to figure it out on your own. We gotta get out of here, right? You've gotta go reunite with your boyfriend."

Danni's face fell. "Boyfriend? You mean Danny's not your boyfriend?"

"Oh, no, sweetie, we're good friends. We work together, too."

Danni looked crushed. "But I wanted you to get married, so I could be in your wedding! And I could wear one of those neat dresses you wear... I saw an Indian wedding on TV!"

Mindy gave her a hug, making faces at a stricken Danny over her shoulder. "It's called a sari... Awwww, sweetie, I'm sure Danny will let you wear one if he gets married..."

She looked glum. "Can't you stay for dinner?"

Mindy said yes as Danny shouted no. They glared at each other for a moment.

"Uh, we, uh, have to get back."

"No, we can stay, Danny. I'm starving! All I had for lunch was that salad."

Danny glowered at her. "I need to check something in the car. Come with me." He grasped her arm and drug her out. "We'll be right back!" She shouted.

Danny stormed to the car and whipped around to face her. "Mindy, you were my excuse. I just want to get out of here!"

"What's the harm in staying for dinner? We've come all this way. Your dad wants you to stay."

"Why should I care what he wants!?" Danny spat.

"Why did you come then?"

"I don't know."

"Danny, you had a reason, and staying ten minutes makes no sense. I know you're angry, and you have every right to be, but that anger isn't healthy. It's eating you up."

"That anger has driven me my whole life. It's made me who I am. Why should I give it up? For that tired old man?"

"No, for the tired old man you're going to become. That anger may have made you who you are, but is it who you want to be?"

Danny just stared at her, jaw clenched.

Mindy moved closer to Danny and reached out to fiddle with the collar of his shirt as she spoke. "Look, just stay for dinner. Spend some time getting to know your sister. You don't ever have to see your dad again, but that little girl... She's so great, Danny."

She ran her fingers along the edge of his shirt, toyed with a button, and looked back up at Danny. She had an overwhelming urge to stroke the exposed skin on his chest. "And if she has to wait for your wedding... Well, she might be in her forties by then."

Mindy realized what she was doing was basically seducing Danny into staying, and she felt a little guilty, especially since it appeared to be working. Danny's eyes had softened and he was watching her every move.

"Let's stay, Danny. Let's go inside." Her voice was smoky.

"Ok."

Mindy put her hands on Danny's shoulders and grinned up at him. "OK!" She leaned forward on her tip toes and quickly kissed him, bumping her chest into his. She meant it to be a friendly kiss, really, but when her lips met his it suddenly didn't feel like friends. She quickly pulled back, but Danny shot out his hands and grabbed her hips, holding her there. They just looked at each other, tension palpable, and Mindy was sure he was going to kiss her for real.

But he suddenly let go and moved past her to walk into the house, leaving her a little off kilter.

Danny announced they were staying as she followed him inside. Alan smiled, glancing at Mindy, who returned the smile and gave a brief nod. He told them to settle in and he would get dinner ready, then headed to the kitchen.

"You know, I think I'm going to see if he needs help." Mindy announced. Danny frowned.

"You don't know how to cook."

"I'm sure there's something I can do, Danny. Have your sister show you the science project she's working on, it's really neat!"

Alan was setting up a pot of pasta when Mindy joined him. "Sure, I've got some grilled chicken, maybe you can cut it up in chunks?"

"I think that sounds about my speed." She grinned.

They worked in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey, thanks for coming here with Danny." Alan finally spoke. "I don't think he would have come without you."

"Maybe, maybe not. He is stubborn... but he knew it was important to Richie that he at least make an effort."

"Yeah, he's a good boy, and so is Richie. Well, he's a good man, actually." He turned to Mindy and his eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "I screwed up so bad, quitting on them. I'll never forgive myself."

Mindy couldn't stop herself. She threw her arms around Alan and hugged him tightly.

"Ah, what's done is done." He said when they moved apart, wiping at his eyes. "But Danny... I want him to be happy. I know you said you guys weren't together..." His voice trailed off.

"Danny is a great friend, Mr. Castel... Alan."

"I'm sure. But he's a good man, and every good man needs a good woman." A familiar half smile spread across his face. Mindy felt herself blushing. She shook her head.

"He will find one, no doubt."

Alan leaned close to Mindy, and said in a low voice, "He already has."

"Alan, no. He's not interested in me." Mindy couldn't help but think of those almost kisses, and her offer at the Christmas party. She had already decided that door was closed.

"Oh, he's far beyond interested, little girl. The way he looks at you? I recognize that look. His ma looked at me the same way, when we were young and crazy in love." Alan smiled sadly.

He doesn't look at me like that, thought Mindy, which jarred a memory from months back. That time when she had to stay at Danny's, what was it crazy Amy had said? Danny never looked at me like that... Suddenly her heart was in her throat. She looked back at Alan, and he just slowly nodded.

Mindy laughed nervously. "OK, Alan. Let's get this dinner going." They made casual small talk as they finished up, Mindy making a salad while Alan added sauce to the pasta and heated some garlic rolls.

When they brought out the hot food, Danny and his sister were nowhere to be found.

"Kids, dinner is ready!" Alan smiled at Mindy. "He's probably not gonna like that, huh?" Mindy shook her head.

Surprisingly, the two were both smiling when they appeared. Danni excitedly told her father about all the things her big brother had told her about medical school. "They get to cut up real dead people! So gross!"

Danny glanced at Mindy with a grin, and she found herself smiling back before suddenly thinking of Alan's comments from earlier. She quickly turned her attention to Danni, as Alan served the food.

"Mindy, did you cut up gross dead bodies too?"

"Oh yeah, and I even had to take their organs out and cut those up! Even eyeballs!"

"Eeeek!" Danni giggled and shoveled food into her mouth. "Dad, I want to be a doctor too!"

Danny was glowing with pride.

"The girl's a natural, she can eat while talking about dissection."

Mindy laughed and their eyes met again. All she could think was oh God, why did I kiss him? She looked back to her food, studying it and trying to stop thinking of how badly she wanted to do it again. You just got dumped, you're vulnerable, you're impressionable, just stop... but she couldn't.

Danny actually managed to hold a civil conversation with his father during the meal. He kept glancing at Mindy, who was acting squirrelly and focusing on either Danni or Alan, or her plate. Time flew by and before long, they really did have to leave in order to catch the last plane till morning.

Mindy hugged Alan and Danni goodbye, promising to keep in touch with the youngster and make sure she got into the best college, Princeton, of course. Danny hugged her as well and shook his dad's hand. Mindy hoped maybe, just maybe, there might be hopes of a relationship there. Then she cursed herself for thinking of "relationship" and Danny in the same sentence.

Danny definitely noticed her odd behavior and she knew it, but she was just too rattled to fake normalcy. She could fake sleep, though, and they had no more driven five miles when she was "napping." She managed the act all the way to LAX, and once there, they were too busy getting situated on the flight to have to talk.

However, once in the air, it was a different story. Mindy foolishly took the window seat, because she loved to see the lights from up high, but then found that she was trapped. She hoped maybe Danny would be sleepy, but he was wide awake and she could feel him looking at her. She decided what she needed to do to stop this silly fixation on Danny was to compose an apology letter to Cliff in an effort to win him back. She wasn't sure why she would even bother, but if she was with Cliff, she couldn't possibly think about Danny like that.

The blank screen loomed as she tried to think of what to write. Dear Cliff, even though you think I'm a cheat, I still want to be with you. My darling, you didn't even bother to hear my side, but I'm going to try again. Cliff honey, these past few months were obviously more meaningful to me than they were to you. Nothing sounded right.

"So." Danny finally spoke, his voice grittier than usual. "That went pretty well."

"Oh, yeah, I think so too." Mindy tried to sound blasé, as she typed random words in different fonts.

"Danni is a sweetie. I'm glad I got to meet her."

"Mmm hmm. Richie was right to make you go."

"And Morgan, that little bastard."

Mindy giggled and against her better judgement glanced at Danny. He was observing her intensely. She turned back to her screen. Dear Morgan, you lovable buffoon.

"So." Danny repeated. Mindy braced herself. He was readying himself to say something, she could just tell.

"What _was_ that?" He asked.

"Uh, did we have turbulence? I didn't feel it."

"No. What was that, back at my dad's house?"

She knew exactly what he meant.

"Bow tie pasta and chicken. I made the salad." The false cheer in her voice was ineffective.

"_Mindy_."

"Hmmm?" Type, type. Morgan Tookers, you're my hero. Now try it in wingdings.

"What was that kiss?"

Ohgodohgodohgod rang in Mindy's ears.

"What was what?"

"MINDY." Danny sounded like he was getting a little pissed off.

"Hmmm?"

Danny exhaled loudly. "You kissed me." He growled.

"Well, you looked like you needed it." She managed a decently nonchalant tone.

Danny was quiet for a moment.

"So, we're doing that now?"

"Doing what?" Mindy's heart was pounding. Even fake love letters to Morgan were not doing the trick.

"Min." Danny's voice cracked. It was almost plaintive, like he was willing her to look at him with just a simple word. She couldn't resist. She turned to him with a phony smile plastered on her face, ready to just explain it was a friendly gesture of emotional support.

He was looking at her.

His face. She couldn't. The smile died on her lips.

She saw what Amy had seen, what Alan had seen. What she had seen a million times and denied. He was looking at her so sweetly, so lovingly, and she just drew in in her breath and held it and gazed at him.

"This."

Danny gently laid his hand on her face and leaned in, capturing her mouth. He kissed her so softly, his fingers caressing her cheek, moving back to tangle in her hair. She let out a soft cry, and hungrily kissed him back, tugging at his lips with her own. She found her hands on his muscled chest and twisted them in his shirt, trying to pull him closer.

He pulled back, tearing his lips from hers, and she opened her eyes. He had a look of wonder and trepidation and she beamed at him.

"Yes. Yes, we are doing this now." She murmured, and pulled him back against her. "Oh, yes."

The letter to Cliff never got written, and Danni looked lovely in her sari.

**Author's note - OK, who else is dying for Tuesday? It looks like to will be a lot more painful than this fic, but oh, can't wait for the ending. Of course, we know it's just the beginning of the roller coaster, and we have two terribly long months to wait for that. Anyway, it was fun envisioning an alternate means to an end!**


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